Hello, again. So this is a sequel to another one of my stories, Foreshadowing a Life. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend you read it first. You can probably read this story and be fine, but it will probably make more sense if you've read the first story...

Anyway, I do not own Bones or any of its character. They belong to Fox, Hart Hanson, and Kathy Reichs. I'm just borrowing them.

Special Agent Seeley Booth was having one of those days where everything that could go wrong did. He overslept because his new ex-girlfriend, Hannah, taken the alarm clock when she left that morning unannounced, and because of that he was late to work where Hacker chewed him out. And then he had to fill out some paperwork before his mandatory session with Sweets (two of his favorite activities). And the twelve year old psychologist was in one of those 'let's share everything that's gone through our minds since our last meeting' moods- at least it felt that way to Booth. Booth wasn't quite ready to tell all of his friends that Hannah had broken up with him, especially because her reason was that he cared too much about Bones. And of course, both the doctors in the room picked up on Booth's displeasure and questioned the cause of it. He was beyond relieved when he got a call saying there was a body discovered at the dump. But Bones continued to ask him what was bothering him the entire way to the landfill. He was happy when they finally reached the crime scene.

"Booth, something is clearly bothering you. You once told me that partners shared things that are bothering them," the anthropologist said as they exited the car; still trying to figure out what was causing her partner's irritation.

"You know those days where everyone seems to annoy you? This is my day for that."

Brennan was quiet for a moment before replying, "I'm familiar with the type of day you are describing. The usually occur before my menstrual cycle-"

"Bones!" That was definitely something he didn't need to hear about. Ever. "We're at a crime scene! Can we talk about this later? When there aren't a couple dozen agents around." She sighed as they approached the man in charge.

"Hey, you the feds?" he asked. He was medium build with shaggy, light brown hair and big, brown eyes. Booth placed him at around fifty.

"Special Agent Booth and this is my partner Dr. Brennan."

"Officer Miller. Good to have y'all. Body's over there, ma'am." Brennan immediately went towards the decomposing remains and studying them.

"So, what do you know so far?" Booth asked the officer.

"A couple found the body when they were taking the dog for a walk. Apparently the pup went wild, so the guy went to see why and came across the remains. We sent them on their merry way; but if you wanna question them, we've got their address."

"I don't think that will be necessary, but put their names in the file anyway. I'll let you know if we need anything." The two men went their separate ways; Booth towards his partner and Miller to talk to some of his men.

Booth came up behind Brennan. He loved watching her work. She'd get this cute face whenever she was dealing with bones, and he could just sit there and watch her for hours at a time- not that he had ever had the opportunity before. Booth quickly became lost in his thoughts about his partner and their relationship (or lack thereof). Bones' voice pulled him back into reality.

"Do you need something, Booth?"

"Just curious about what you found."

"Caucasian female, between fort and fifty years old. Looks like a bullet wound to her frontal lobe was the cause of death. I believe she was around one hundred and seventy-seven cm, which is about five feet- ten inches and weighed somewhere between eight and ninety kilograms, about one hundred and seventy-five and two hundred pounds. There are a few marks that indicate that she has broken her left wrist several times, and her hands have abstained some damaged, but all of these wounds have had time to heal. I doubt there is any link between them and her death, though it is still possible. It will probably be more helpful in identifying her, though. I estimate time of death being between four and eight months ago. There are some insect larvae around the body and some burnt flesh. Cam and Hodgins will want to look at them."

"So, we're packing it all up?" Brennan nodded. Booth turned to the FBI techs and ordered for them to do so and send it to the Jeffersonian.

The rest of the day flew by. Brennan questioned the agent's mood until he dropped her off at the lab, never revealing anything about his breakup. He then went back to his office to finish some paperwork. Of course, with no new cases in the past few weeks, the secretarial work was completed with several hours to spare. He considered going by the lab to see what the squints had found, but didn't want to deal Bones' interrogation again. He loved her and all, but he knew she would ask what caused the break up and he couldn't lie to her- at least not about that. Not anymore.

So he checked his email. Nothing very interesting. Some spam, a message from his brother who was on his honeymoon, a few agents asking for his help or opinion on a case, and finally a letter from his cousin, Jett. Booth was a little surprised that Jett Griffen had sent him a message since he was currently deployed in Afghanistan. The message was a simple one, just letting the family know he was still alive and okay. But Jett's emails always made the FBI agent think back to the week he spent with his cousin after his last tour before joining the bureau. More than just the time he spent with Jett, but his babysitter, too.

Mattie Johnston, the blonde, brown eyed teenage foster girl Booth had tried to help right after he got back from serving his country. Booth had only been around for five days, but within that time she had disappeared for two days- scaring Jett and he. When she turned up the day before Booth left, she confided in Booth that her foster parents, Larry and Kirra Jordan, were abusing her. Booth accidentally met the couple and then not so accidentally kicked the crap out of abusive man. Of course, Mattie scolded him for picking a fight with them when she found out; so, while Booth was cleaning up from the fight Mattie took Jett to the park, where the boy broke his arm. Booth had momentarily blamed Mattie, but before he could apologize for acting like an ass, Mattie's social worker released a missing child release for her. Mattie had left before Jett came out with a cast on his arm, and Booth hadn't seen her since. He had received a letter from her, basically thanking him for being there for her. Which only making him feel more like crap- but that was beside the point.

When Booth had first got a job at the FBI, he had been tempted to run Mattie's name through the system to make sure she was okay, but couldn't bring himself to do so. She had asked him not to, and he wanted to respect her wishes. Booth shook his head. He knew Mattie was probably doing okay. Sometimes, he still wished that he could find her to make sure that her foster parents hadn't messed her up too badly.

So, what do you think so far? Good, bad, what? Let me know. :)